Real men: Ukraine's heroes shame us

Ukraine's heroes have shamed us. These real men have shown us something that we in the West think we've lost,  having had manhood and patriotism beaten out of us. 

Which real man doesn’t want to be Ukrainian today?   Ukrainians have fought like heroes of old and humbled the invading Russian army of Vladimir Putin.

They’re heroic because they still have the patriotism and “toxic masculinity” that’s been beaten out of us in the poor-me, self-hating West.

Against massive odds, they’ve not just crippled the Russian advance, but shamed Western leaders into finally offering real help to a cause they’d written off.

Sure, Putin’s army is four times bigger and could still capture the Ukrainian capital, but Putin’s war is essentially lost.

Putin knows it. You could see the fear in his snarling face on Friday when he appealed to Ukrainian soldiers to do what his couldn’t – and get rid of Ukraine’s inspiring president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

They won’t. Ukrainians have instead fought like lions, led by a president who is leading from the front.

The US offered to evacuate Zelenskyy from Kyiv as Russian forces surrounded the capital, with Russian special forces reportedly infiltrated to catch and kill him.

Zelenskyy’s response: “I need ammunition, not a ride.”

And when Russia claimed Zelinskyy had fled Kyiv, he filmed a selfie of himself and top officials in the street, declaring: “We are in Kyiv. We defend Ukraine … Glory to Ukraine, glory to the heroes.”

Of heroes, Ukraine has plenty. Like the soldiers last week who drove out the Russian special forces who’d captured a key military airport outside Kyiv.

Or like engineer Vitaly Volodymyrovych, who blew up a bridge to stop Russian tanks, losing his own life in the explosion.

Or like the soldiers, armed with British-made anti-tank weapons, who faced up to Russian tanks and helped destroy more than 100.

Or like the civilians, unarmed, who stood in front of a column of Russia tanks, and forced them to retreat. 

Or like the former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, who queued for one of the 18,000 guns handed to volunteers wanting to defend Kyiv.

A Western journalist asked: how long could they hold out against Russia? Poroshenko replied: “Forever.”

This implacable courage turned the tide of this war and made Putin suddenly look like the president in danger of being deposed.

When he declared his war, Putin claimed Ukraine was actually heartland Russia and issued his first demand that Ukrainian soldiers give up.

He seemed deranged. Worse for Russia’s soldiers, he believed his fantasy.

Putin sent columns of tanks hurtling through Ukraine on main roads as if – of course! – Ukrainians would never ambush their Russian “saviours”. He landed paratroops near Kyiv as if – of course! – Ukrainian soldiers would run away.

He counted on quickly grabbing Kyiv and installing a puppet regime as if – of course! – Ukrainians would accept rule again by their Russian “brothers”.

Instead, Ukrainians showed they’re not Russian and will never stop resisting. There will be no happy Russian ending.

Now Putin must explain to Russians why thousands of their sons and husbands have already died in his shambolic war. He must also explain why Russia will get poorer, as sanctions bite.

Even more important is how Ukraine’s heroics have electrified Western opinion.

In Britain, soccer crowds cheered Ukrainian players. Prince William and his wife Kate, normally silent on politics, announced they “stand with the (Ukrainian) president and all of Ukraine’s people as they bravely fight”. And in the US and Europe, angry voters now demand tougher sanctions on Russia from their weak leaders, who are so embarrassed by Ukraine’s courage that they’ll now try to help it win a war that last week seemed lost.

Germany, which buys 40 per cent of its gas from Russia, had until Saturday refused to give Ukraine weapons. Now it will send 1000 anti-tank weapons and 500 “Stinger” surface-to-air missiles.

Germany and the rest of Europe also agreed at the weekend to cut Russia off from the SWIFT banking network – a devastating move they’d feared would hurt Europe, too.

What changed their mind was the willingness of Ukrainians to fight and die for freedom and the country they love. It’s a courage that both inspires and surprises us, since few of us imagine we’d do the same.

That courage could now not just save Ukraine, but also save Europe from Putin’s next war, and delay China’s threatened invasion of Taiwan. That makes Ukraine’s heroes ours, too.

May we find the patriotism – and manhood – to create our own.

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